Practically Ranching

Kendal Kay is CEO of Stockgrowers State Bank, Ashland, KS, where he has worked for 30 years. He is the former mayor of Ashland and played a key role in the donation and recovery efforts of the Starbuck Fire of 2017, one of the state's largest wildfires in recent history.

I caught up with Kendal while he was en route to visit victims of the yesterday's Ranger Road wildfire that burnt roughly 150,000 acres of Oklahoma and Ka...

Chandler Keys grew up on a family farm in Maryland. In addition to helping his family raise purebred Angus cattle and grow various grain crops, he was active in 4-H and other agriculture clubs. After earning his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, Chandler held an entry level position with National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). Over the next two decades, Chandler stayed with NCBA and moved up within the o...

Carolyn Perrier is a ranch wife, mother of three and grandmother of nine. She is a servant in her community, a leader for countless organizations through the years, and most importantly... my mom. 

On this episode, we talk about her journey from city to country life and the countless challenges and blessings along the way.

Past episode mentions:

Tom Perrier https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/12299829

Symphony in the Flint Hill...

Don Close is a senior animal protein analyst for Terrain Ag. He’s enjoying serving in leadership roles in the cattle industry and conducting research on a wide range of topics after overseeing the establishment of Terrain as the team’s first leader. Don’s prior experience includes his work as a senior animal protein analyst at Rabobank, and as a market director for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, where he worked on all econom...

Jason Kraft is the Founder and CEO of Compass Ag Solutions, a Risk Management firm based in his hometown of Ft. Collins, CO. In addition, his family owns and operates Hilltop Hay and Livestock, a diversified family operation that offers high quality hay, cattle and beef to customers in Colorado’s Front Range. 

We talk market risk, leverage, fed cattle price discovery and asset protection. Throughout his career, Jason has found ways ...

Links:

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

Beef Quality Assurance - BQA

Masters of Beef Advocacy

Environmental Stewardship Award Program

Stockmanship & Stewardship

Cattlemen’s College

Rancher’s Resilience Grant

U S Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

Josh White serves as the Sr. Executive Director - Producer Education & Sustainability for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). He is a fourth-generation cattleman whose first...

Marci Penner has served as executive director of Kansas Sampler Foundation since the formation of the 501c3. She has a unique perspective of Kansas having been to every one of the 627 incorporated cities several times for guidebook research. 

Having a reason to observe, have conversations, and note common issues and differences led to the PowerUp Movement (empowerment of those 21-39 who are rural by choice) and the access to resourc...

Logan Thompson is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist of Sustainable Livestock Feeding at Kansas State University.

He grew up on a registered Hereford ranch in central Texas which instilled a passion to improve the sustainability of beef production by developing practical solutions for producers. Logan started his bachelor's degree at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX prior to completing his degree at T...

Rich Porter owns and operates Porter Cattle Company, a grazing and backgrounding operation, located north of Emporia, Kansas. He receives around 7,000 head of three-weight, high-risk calves from the southeast annually and grows them to roughly 800 pounds.

Rich holds degrees in chemical engineering, business and law, but for the last five decades, he has been a student of agriculture. His knowledge and ingenuity in the areas of beef ...

Ed Greiman is General Manager of Upper Iowa Beef, a mid-sized beef processing plant located in Lime Springs, Iowa.

He was born and raised as a typical farm kid in rural Iowa, went to college at Iowa State University, and has had significant experience in nearly all segments of the beef industry supply chain.

NOTE: This episode was recorded in early February 2025, so some of the references to political landscape and economics may soun...

Don Schiefelbein is President of Schiefelbein Farms, a large seedstock operation near Kimball, MN. He is the past-president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Angus Association.

In this episode, Don outlines his family's business structure and efforts to sustain their family business for generations. He also shares his hopes and vision for the beef industry leadership in the National Cattlemen&ap...

Dale Brisby is the self-proclaimed greatest bull rider who ever lived. You may know him from the popular Dale Brisby YouTube channel, the Rodeo Time YouTube channel, and other social media platforms. He also has a Netflix original series How to Be a Cowboy. In addition to his rodeo apparel line, he’s a bona fide rancher, cowboy, and rodeo rider who proudly lives the life 24/7. Follow the World’s Greatest Bull Rider on Instagram.

Lin...

Bill Bowman works with Method Genetics, LLC, in St. Joseph, MO. Through the years, Bill has worked in a variety of roles within the Angus breed, from the production to association levels.

In this episode, we talk about the early days of multi-trait indexes, the move to genomic-enhanced EPDs, how commercial producers can benefit from the use of indexes; and finally, a few trends that Bill envisions as the beef industry mov...

Sam Hands and his family own and operate Triangle H, a diversified cow-calf, farming and feeding operation near Garden City, KS.

Sam and daughter, Marisa Kleysteuber, provide the management and leadership for this progressive, quality-focused beef operation.

In this episode, Sam shares some of his outlooks on employee management, working with the younger generation; plus the lessons he has learned from his time at...